Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Holy Island

(Encyclopedia)Holy Island or Lindisfarne lĭnˈdĭsfärn [key], off the coast of Northumberland, NE England. At low tide the island is connected with the mainland by a stretch of sand. It is partly cultivated, and ...

Holy Land

(Encyclopedia)Holy Land: see Palestine.

holy orders

(Encyclopedia)holy orders: see orders, holy.

Holy See

(Encyclopedia)Holy See: see Vatican City.

Grail, Holy

(Encyclopedia)Grail, Holy, a feature of medieval legend and literature. It appears variously as a chalice, a cup, or a dish and sometimes as a stone or a caldron into which a bleeding lance drips. It was identified...

Sepulcher, Holy

(Encyclopedia)Sepulcher, Holy: see Holy Sepulcher. ...

Polish Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Polish Succession, War of the, 1733–35. On the death (1733) of Augustus II of Poland, Stanislaus I sought to reascend the Polish throne. He was supported by his son-in-law, Louis XV of France. The r...

Scot, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Scot, Michael, c.1175–c.1234, medieval scholar, b. Scotland. He served as astrologer and physician at the court of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, where with other scholars he translated Aristotle ...

Swabian League

(Encyclopedia)Swabian League, association of Swabian cities and other powers in SW Germany for the protection of trade and for regional peace. The Swabian League of 1488–1534 is the best known of the long series ...

Holland, former county, Holy Roman Empire; former province, the Netherlands

(Encyclopedia)Holland, former county of the Holy Roman Empire and, from 1579 to 1795, chief member of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Its name is popularly applied to the entire Netherlands. Holland has be...